Planned Microsoft Server Offering Gets New Look

The software vendor's planned Jupiter suite,to include Commerce Server, Content Management Server and BizTalk Server,will contain features that users might not know are available now, said David Kiker, general manager of e-business servers at Microsoft. "There's a click-stream analysis tool in Commerce Server, but I bet many customers don't know that," he said.

Wrapping the technology up as a suite will enable use of more shared code, Kiker said. "We have functions scattered across products," he said, citing different workflow technologies used by the Content Management and BizTalk servers.

The first Jupiter iteration, due in the second half of 2003, will support XML Web Services, workflow and BPEL (Business Process Execution Language). The second release, due in 2004, is expected to add site analytics, campaign management, catalog management, content management and personalization. Microsoft executives promised buyers of the current offerings an attractive upgrade to the bundle.

The future of realtime collaboration lies in the company's next operating system, not in Exchange Server, Microsoft said. A new set of realtime capabilities, code-named Greenwich, will be integrated into Windows.Net Server in the second or third quarter of 2003, said Dennis Karlinsky, product manager of realtime communications at Microsoft.

Some solution providers said the move augurs a secure foundation for realtime communication, along with SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and SIMPLE standards support. There is a "big concern about security holes" when it comes to instant messaging, said Andy Vabulas, president of Atlanta-based I.B.I.S.

Other partners said the move has neutered that offering and shortchanged ISVs. Exchange Server Objects will let outside applications tap into Exchange functions, but Microsoft is now encouraging ISVs to host applications elsewhere, they said.